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Lawmakers talk economic growth for northeast Pa.

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Lawmakers talk economic growth for northeast Pa.


Across Pennsylvania today, employers must address the needs of several interrelated issues that affect the development of the workforce, the region’s state lawmakers said at this month’s Northeast Pennsylvania Manufacturers & Employers Association legislative roundtable.

“Everything is attached to everything, and we have all these workforce issues that are really making our economy more of a struggle than it should be,” state Sen. David G. Argall said.

The roundtable, held Feb. 2  at the clubhouse at Mountain Valley Golf Course, also featured Reps. Jamie Barton, JoAnne Stehr, Dane Watro, Tim Twardzik, Jamie Barton, Jim Haddock and Doyle Heffley.

The panel, moderated by MAEA Chairman-elect Chris Dende of Mrs. T’s Pierogies, covered numerous topics related to Pennsylvania’s economy, workforce and infrastructure.

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Asked about workforce development, Argall described housing as a big issue in Schuylkill County. He mentioned recent initiatives to provide affordable living spaces, including the conversion of part of the Schuylkill Trust Co. building in Pottsville into 60 market-rate apartments.

“It’s one part economic development, it’s one part housing, it’s one part education,” he added. “It’s all tangled together, and we’re trying to whack away at the issue, one at a time.”

While Barton described Pennsylvania as a fabulous place to live and work, he said businesses are often hindered by regulatory concerns.

Among the pressing issues in Schuylkill, he said, are the expansion of broadband and providing alternatives to public education.

“We need to realize that learning is not one-size-fits-all anymore,” Barton said. “We’ve got to make sure that if we want to invite people into this commonwealth, they need to have a choice for schools as well.”

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The lawmakers said it’s important for young, healthy residents who are unemployed to go back into the workforce.

Watro said expanding the tax base would help several communities across the region, including at his local school district, Hazleton Area, which is “bursting at the seams” with rising enrollment. He said many district parents are unemployed.

“We’re one of the fastest growing school districts in the commonwealth, but the tax base isn’t showing that, so there’s a problem,” Watro said. “We’ve got to get those able bodies out to work.”

On that topic, Haddock mentioned recently passed legislation that will expand Pennsylvania’s child care tax credit to match the federal credit. Working families will see a maximum credit of $1,050 for one child, or about $2,000 for two or more children, which is triple the amount of the previous credit, Haddock said.

“That was a major move in the right direction in the state of Pennsylvania to get our people going to work,” he said.

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The legislators were asked about House Bill 1481, which would provide unemployment benefits to striking workers. The bill passed the House in November and has been referred to the Senate’s Labor & Industry Committee.

Heffley, a former unionized worker with Conrail, said he voted against the bill and called it a terrible idea.

“If you voluntarily do not go to work, you should not receive unemployment benefits,” he said. “ … Unemployment, already, after the COVID debacle with the emergency orders, we’re now trying to backfill the money that we owe to the system. Putting that additional burden on the system is going to cost employers.”

Asked about infrastructure and transportation, Twardzik mentioned the long-awaited Frackville Grade reconstruction project, which just got underway.

“It’s going to be an improvement,” he said. “We apologize upfront that there will be some headaches, but once the finished product is there, we will get more safe transportation and get closer to market.”

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Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania man arrested for threatening Sherrill – New Jersey Globe

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Pennsylvania man arrested for threatening Sherrill – New Jersey Globe


A Pennsylvania man was arrested for leaving sexually explicit and threatening messages for Gov. Mikie Sherrill last year.

Stephen M. Cilurso, a 72-year-old resident of Alden, PA, was charged with stalking and harassment by the New Jersey State Police on January 22.  He had allegedly left messages for Sherrill in October and November of last year.

The charges were filed in the Livingston Municipal Court — Sherrill’s congressional office is in Livingston — and then transferred to the Essex County Prosecutor.

Cilurso was arrested by the U.S. Marsal is Pennsylvania and is awaiting extradition to New Jersey.

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In 2021, Cilurso was charged with leaving over a dozen harassing and lewd voicemails at the office of Rep. Madeline Dean, a congresswoman from Pennsylvania.  Those messages were also sexually explicit and referenced the Proud Boys and Dean’s support of impeaching President Donald Trump.  He told detectives that”when he gets into drinking, he has a dirty mouth.”

Cilurso pled guilty to four counts of harassment in 2023 and received a probation sentence.



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Chris DiGiulio: Pennsylvania can’t accept oil and gas companies’ self-reporting

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Chris DiGiulio: Pennsylvania can’t accept oil and gas companies’ self-reporting






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Pennsylvania lawmakers debate immigration crackdowns after Minneapolis shooting

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Pennsylvania lawmakers debate immigration crackdowns after Minneapolis shooting


(WHTM) — Days after federal agents killed a U.S. citizen in Minneapolis, Pennsylvania State Sen. Tim Kearney (D-Delaware) stood outside an office for one of the Keystone State’s most prominent Democrats, arguing he’s not doing enough.

“It’s going to take people in the street really trying to make a difference, which is one of the reasons that I’m here today,” Kearney said Wednesday while protesting outside U.S. Sen. John Fetterman’s Philadelphia office. Fetterman did release a statement earlier in the day calling for President Donald Trump to fire Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

But State House and Senate Democrats have been pushing for several proposals that would limit what Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents can do in the state. One would ban them from wearing masks, another prohibits them from making arrests on state property, court houses, and schools, while a third would let residents sue the federal government if they violate constitutional rights.

“I would hope that my colleagues across the aisle would join us in calling for accountability and calling for common sense standards for these ICE operations that have clearly gone way out of hand,” said State Rep. Tarik Khan (D-Philadelphia).

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Republicans in Harrisburg and Washington mostly reject such initiatives, and Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman, pushed back against the measures in a statement.

“ICE officers are facing a 1300% increase in assaults because of dangerous, untrue smears by elected Democrats,” she said. “Just the other day, an officer had his finger bitten off by a [radical] left-wing rioter. ICE officers act heroically to enforce the law and protect American communities, and local officials should work with them, not against them. Anyone pointing the finger at law enforcement officers instead of the criminals is simply doing the bidding of criminal illegal aliens.”

State Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman said safety is a top priority for the Senate Republican Caucus.

“Under the tenure of the Biden Administration, state and local officials across this country sounded the alarm regarding the straining of their resources, the scourge of fentanyl deaths, the tragedy of human trafficking, including children smuggled across the border, and the flow of illegal firearms and dangerous gang members,” he said in a statement. “Collaboration between state and federal government is critical as we work to recover from the disastrous border policies of the Biden Administration and seek to protect lawful citizens.”

Meanwhile, Kearny warned Republicans that insisting on resisting bills to rein in ICE may face voters in November.

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“If this stuff doesn’t move, which it hasn’t moved so far, then that’s something we can campaign on,” he said.



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